Learning from history

It is looking like a script from a classic film in which the main actor is the last to be killed.
But this setting isn’t a film, even as the actor has exhausted all the tricks in the books to escape being exposed as one whose word isn’t his bond.

Many people have sneered at Victor Moses’ absence from Nigeria’s two international friendlies against the Teranga Lions of Senegal and the Stallions of Burkina Faso inside the Barnet FC’s Hive Stadium in England, which was meant to blend the Super Eagles ahead of the crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nation qualifier tie against Bafana Bafana of South Africa in June. Indeed, the Eagles have another titanic clash against our perennial rivals, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in August inside the magnificent Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo.

Those who have winked at Moses’ new theatrics argue that the scenario recurs when Nigeria has a friendly or away matches. They reckon that Moses, being the soul of the Eagles, ought to play in such build-up games to help the coaches fashion out the right strategies to conquer the South Africans and the Cameroonians later in the year.

Besides, this school of thought can’t believe that Moses is injured, having seen Chelsea’s last game against Stoke which the Blues won 2-0. Moses played for 70 minutes, with no crunchy tackle from Stoke players. Moses is believed to have followed the path of Eden Hazard, another Chelsea star, who opted out of Belgium’s international friendly, raising the poser of the troublesome club versus country debacle, mostly with European clubs, when they are in contention for trophies.

Why would any player decide to collude with his European club to dodge his country’s matches, knowing that he is dispensable? Can players not learn from what has become of the club’s stars when they are no longer useful? Sadly, these “escapee” players eventually play for the clubs ten days after missing their country’s games. Medical experts reckon that injuries that could keep a player out of a game would need between seven to 14 days to heal. Even at that, such players have to train to attain match fitness before playing again. Will anyone be surprised if Moses and Hazard play for Chelsea next weekend? It won’t be for the first time, I dare say.

Soccer followers are peeved by Moses’ stunts and have considered the theatrics of reporting to the camp for Eagles’ doctors to evaluate his injury as an afterthought to escape the vituperations against him in the build-up to Nigeria’s victory over Algeria in one of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Uyo, last year. These soccer analysts opine that several players accept to play for their clubs using pain killers; not for their countries.

The flipside to this argument is the school of thought which feels that the players would always play for their clubs because they pay their wages. But this submission is selfish because clubs engaged them after watching them play for their countries. What have all the European clubs that our past stars played for done for them since they stopped playing beyond inviting them to play testimonial matches? How many European clubs have come to watch the Nigerian league, for instance, and pick a rookie, who will immediately play for them? Isn’t it embedded in the rule that players must play 75 per cent of their countries’ national team assignments to qualify for work permits, especially in England? Isn’t this the reason many ageing African stars don’t get their deals renewed in the twilight of their career?

It is true that most countries use and dump their stars, but the bigger picture is that most of them attain the star status playing for their countries. Besides, they are quick to preach patriotism to the younger ones in the twilight of their careers. Need I name players who have turned coat on Nigerian assignments in their later days with European clubs?

My happiness with Moses is that he has chosen the path of honour by submitting himself for recheck by Eagles’ doctors. The coincidence of always sustaining injuries days to Nigeria’s away games or friendlies is worrisome. It smacks of conspiracy with the European clubs, which I feel strongly isn’t the case with Moses. I will be thrilled if Moses remains in the camp to give moral support to his mates. It also won’t be out of place if he watches both matches.

Nigerian coaches, I dey laugh o!

My apologises to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who made I dey laugh o, a lingo. I honestly didn’t want to talk about Nigerian coaches again, since they hate to be told the truth. I’ve been attacked for defending the recruitment of a foreign coach for Nigeria, with many alleging that I’m an agent.

Who is a football coach in Nigeria? From the records, to become a coach now, you must have played the game. You must have retired unexpectedly due to injury. No one cares if you are a trained coach with requisite qualifications to do the job, as long as you can joggle the ball. With this kind of credentials, it shouldn’t shock anyone if our coaches fail when pitched against renowned coaches elsewhere. They certainly cannot give what they don’t have.

In the past we had better trained coaches, such as Adegboye Onigbinde, Alabi Aissien, James Peter, Monday Sinclair, Ufere Nwankwo, Bitrus Bewarang, the late Willy Bazuaye, the late Udemezue, and the late Shuaibu Amodu et al. These coaches distinguished themselves handling domestic league sides to win laurels. Their feats ensured that they were elevated to handle the country’s soccer teams across all cadres.

Many of these coaches were products of the Teachers Training Schools, Colleges of Education, Physical and Health Education Colleges, which trained games masters and mistresses of yore. So, they have a background to their jobs, with cognate knowledge of how to identify, groom and expose talents. Movement up the ranks was done through such coaches’ achievements, not what we have now.

If we must stem this slide, the League Management Company (LMC), in conjunction with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF, must implement the policy where only certificated coaches are allowed to sit on the bench of any club. LMC and indeed NFF must organise periodic coaching seminars for our coaches to help them improve. This idea of anyone being a club coach must stop. Both bodies must insist on assisting our club representatives to continental competitions because the shame of our current ouster falls on us. How can the abundant talents at the grassroots get lucrative deals with bigger teams in the world, if our clubs can’t qualify for the second round in the continent?

Besides, LMC and NFF chieftains must monitor all the stages of the domestic league games to ensure that true winners emerge. It speaks a lot about how teams win the domestic league, if in the following season as many as 15 new players are recruited to strengthen such a side. Commonsense tells me that such a team can’t win games since they need time to blend to play as an indivisible unit. LMC and NFF must discourage our continental ambassadors next year from beefing up their teams with players who have failed with other teams in the past in Africa under the guise of their experience.

The story of Leicester City of England should guide our club owners in recruiting players. Leicester is still in the UEFA Champions League, in spite of their shambolic Barclays English Premier outings because they kept the bulk of their last season stars. When things went awry for them, they sacked their Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri and promoted his assistant. Leicester are back in the groove, winning all its three games since Ranieri was shown the exit door.

Unity at last

Part of the problems of the Super Eagles is unity among the players. It will shock many readers to know that our players don’t communicate with themselves when they are out of national assignments. This writer was miffed when told that two of our players in the same European club were not on speaking terms. The discovery arose when one of them couldn’t provide the telephone numbers of his team mate.

Ridiculous, you have not heard anything, especially after the late Samuel Okwaraji told journalists that he had to walk towards three members of the Super Eagles “mafia” to ask why they were not passing the ball to him at half-time. The late Okwaraji pointed at his shirt to ask if it was different from what the “mafia men” were wearing. Of course, it wasn’t and the culprits knew so. They changed their minds in the second half and Okwaraji scored a goal for Nigeria. Funny? I don’t think so, because it is common knowledge that members of the country’s most successful Eagles side refused to pass the ball to the late Rashidi Yekini, after his feats. Need I remind you of what transpired in one of the matches?

So, when the news broke on Tuesday night from the Eagles’ Crown Plaza Hotel camp in England that those in the camp were missing Captain John Mikel Obi, I sighed, knowing that only foreign coaches achieve such feats. I’m a Nigerian, but our local coaches create camps in the team to satisfy their whims and caprices. It is the reason the Eagles totter under their tutelage. You don’t need any seer to tell you all the blocs in the Eagles, which become evident even during training. Our coaches don’t give a hoot.

I’ve enjoyed watching the clips of the initiation of new Super Eagles players on video from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in London. I laughed watching Ebuehi dance. The way he twisted his waist and rolled his bum showed the impact Nigerian artistes have in the world of entertainment. Initiation ceremonies are meant for bonding. Please don’t remind me about what we passed through at the Government College Ughelli. Just try and drink heavily salted water and make an attempt to whistle. Great GCU, Up Mariners! Keep the ship sailing.